Mark Twain

*RE: Mark Twain's steamboat days*

Hi, Daniel & Steamboating colleagues:
Saw your posting RE: Mark Twain's steamboat experiences. A lot has been posted here on Twain going back a number of years. Too much to post here now, but I have a paper I wrote/delivered to the Literary Club of Cincinnati last winter on Twain's early years here as a printer's devil in Cincinnati along with his travels on steamboats. Included is how he left Cincinnati bound for New Orleans by steamboat and thence on to South America. He met Horace Bixby on the boat with the agreement to be taken on as a 'cub' pilot. All the rest is history. Twain's brother, Henry, was aboard the packet PENNSYLVANIA [See WAY'S PACKET DIRECTORY, Pg. 366/367 Entry No. 4443] when it exploded killing some 154 lost or missing. Henry died of steam scalds with Mark never getting over it. In time Twain came to resent his image as just a humorist as his 'dark side' in politics, ecomonics, people became more evident with penetrating opinions. He then attached big investors, 'Gilded Age' plutocrats similar to today. Sound familar?

Twain's LIFE ON THE MISSISSSIPPI, though rich in color etc., was more of an embroidery of people/characters he met being short on real steamboat history of his time. Twain fleshed out in text personalities; yet not without some of his own experiences. Twain, no shy wall flower, had his share of scuffles, fist fights with officers and crew in his time. His yearly salary then, when converted to today's money values, would have been on/around $70,000 give or take. As a young printer devil in Cincinnati, he penned and had printed articles under the nom de plume 'Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass' in the early CINCINNATI POST newspaper telling of characters he met on packet boats. Twain was also sensitive to the issue of published authors needing Copyright protection. Today Stanford University holds the Copyright for many of his papers, letters, monographs etc. Twain made and lost fortunes with the drop of a hat; yet came out in the end on top nationally/internationally renowned by millions.

Last year I discovered here a large bound volume of Twain's later travels as a writer/speaker to Europe aboard Atlantic steamships.
*My E=Mail is: [email protected] I'll be glad to pull my article here and forward to you if you wish if you E=Mail here. I rank as no expert in any field. Well, what do I know?

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Mark Twain's Steamboating Days

Daniel: You might wish to obtain a copy of Mark Twain's Steamboat Years: The Years of Command, authored by Raymond P. Ewing in 1981. It is available on Amazon and at Bookfinder.Com.

Best wishes with your research!

Cartwright Station Kentucky

Thanks for your reply!!

It is my understanding that Mark Twain worked for the Virginia City NV newspaper. I know Mark Twain was part of the Bonanza TV Series when Ben Cartwright ran for Gov of Nevada. I remember Ben saying he was from Cartwright Station KY and graduated from the University of Louisville KY.

I believe this is why most people think Mark Twain was fictional as just about everyone thinks, except for me, Ben Cartwright and this three sons were fictional.

I have a picture of Lake Tahoe taken in the late 1800's with several steamboats on the lake.

What do you know about the Cartwrights of Cartwright Station KY?

te Sei

R. Dale Flick;28106 wrote: Hi, Daniel & Steamboating colleagues:
Saw your posting RE: Mark Twain's steamboat experiences. A lot has been posted here on Twain going back a number of years. Too much to post here now, but I have a paper I wrote/delivered to the Literary Club of Cincinnati last winter on Twain's early years here as a printer's devil in Cincinnati along with his travels on steamboats. Included is how he left Cincinnati bound for New Orleans by steamboat and thence on to South America. He met Horace Bixby on the boat with the agreement to be taken on as a 'cub' pilot. All the rest is history. Twain's brother, Henry, was aboard the packet PENNSYLVANIA [See WAY'S PACKET DIRECTORY, Pg. 366/367 Entry No. 4443] when it exploded killing some 154 lost or missing. Henry died of steam scalds with Mark never getting over it. In time Twain came to resent his image as just a humorist as his 'dark side' in politics, ecomonics, people became more evident with penetrating opinions. He then attached big investors, 'Gilded Age' plutocrats similar to today. Sound familar?

Twain's LIFE ON THE MISSISSSIPPI, though rich in color etc., was more of an embroidery of people/characters he met being short on real steamboat history of his time. Twain fleshed out in text personalities; yet not without some of his own experiences. Twain, no shy wall flower, had his share of scuffles, fist fights with officers and crew in his time. His yearly salary then, when converted to today's money values, would have been on/around $70,000 give or take. As a young printer devil in Cincinnati, he penned and had printed articles under the nom de plume 'Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass' in the early CINCINNATI POST newspaper telling of characters he met on packet boats. Twain was also sensitive to the issue of published authors needing Copyright protection. Today Stanford University holds the Copyright for many of his papers, letters, monographs etc. Twain made and lost fortunes with the drop of a hat; yet came out in the end on top nationally/internationally renowned by millions.

Last year I discovered here a large bound volume of Twain's later travels as a writer/speaker to Europe aboard Atlantic steamships.
*My E=Mail is: [email protected] I'll be glad to pull my article here and forward to you if you wish if you E=Mail here. I rank as no expert in any field. Well, what do I know?

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Mark Twain Museum Virginia City NV

Thanks, but I am more interested in Mark Twain's work as a newspaper man in Virginia City NV and his connection to the Cartwright family of Cartwright Station KY. The Cartwright family lived on a 250000 acre ranch at Lake Tahoe. I believe Westinghouse Electric of Pittsburgh, who made Color TV sets, financed the Color TV programming of this family every Sunday night.

Or maybe this is all a mistake.

Keith Norrington;28108 wrote: Daniel: You might wish to obtain a copy of Mark Twain's Steamboat Years: The Years of Command, authored by Raymond P. Ewing in 1981. It is available on Amazon and at Bookfinder.Com.

Best wishes with your research!

My Mistake

Sorry, from your initial posting I thought you were seeking information on Mark Twain's steamboating career.

Hope you find what you are seeking. Good luck!

Benair Clemens Sawyer

I guess I was asking if Mark Twain's steamboat career actually existed and if so, what would he know about steamboats and who built and operated them? How much of an expert on steamboats was he? For sure he was newspaper man at Virginia City. Was he really a riverboat Captain or did he just have a ticket to New Orleans at one time in his life?

Cartwright Station KY was said to be a major steamboat stop in Kentucky. Would he have a chance to stop at that station? Did he know that it even existed?

Then can we look the other way when looking at the families connected to building and operating steamboats on who they might know or be related to?

I am starting with Captain Isaac Hammitt in grave lot B41 and working out to his brother-in-law Captain Daniel Pollard.

So would Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens know about Captain Isaac Hammitt and/or the Rees family of Captain James Rees and Sons of Pittsburgh? Then would Mark Twain know Benair Clemens Sawyer, the Mayor of Pittsburgh.

Yes I know, an interesting coincidence.

Keith Norrington;28118 wrote: Sorry, from your initial posting I thought you were seeking information on Mark Twain's steamboating career.

Hope you find what you are seeking. Good luck!

Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was licensed river pilot, running basically St. Louis to New Orleans. He spent a little over four years in that profession and he was good at it.
The War Between the States spooked him into going out to the wild west. His career was on the Mississippi so I doubt if he knew of the Hammitts or the Rees yard.

Cartwright Station was not close to a navigable river, located in central Kentucky near present Lebanon, Ky. Actually it was a type of fort on the Wilderness Rd.

Sutters Mill

Thank you very much.

What's interesting about Isaac Hammett and his brother in law Daniel Pollard is they are connected to another Pittsburgh family named Hays headed by General Alexander Hays. In 1849, General Hays and a group of miners from Pittsburgh went to Sutters Mill, Marysville and Yuba City. This was a well recorded trip and may places and names in Marysville CA have a direct connection to Pittsburgh and the Comstock family of Virginia.

Ft Hays KS was named after General Hays and Ft Sedgwick CO was named after his friend General John Sedgwick who was killed within days of General Hays' death during the Civil War. General Hays is buried next to Reed Washington at Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Reed Washington married to Elizabeth Crawford was both blood related to General George Washignton and Meriwether Lewis.

Isaac Hammitt in B41 at Versailles is buried just 25 ft from the Lewis and Clark cemetery lot C32 in Pittsburgh. The Hammitts plus the Lewis and Clark families were boat builders in Elizabeth PA.

So I wonder how much Mark Twain knew about the gold rush of 1849 when he was in Virginia City and how much Mark Twain knew about the Lewis and Clark Expedition out of Pittsburgh in 1803?

The Crawford gravesite is about 25 ft the other way from Isaac Hammitt. It's very fancy building that looks like a little copy of the White House.

Bill Judd;28123 wrote: Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, was licensed river pilot, running basically St. Louis to New Orleans. He spent a little over four years in that profession and he was good at it.
The War Between the States spooked him into going out to the wild west. His career was on the Mississippi so I doubt if he knew of the Hammitts or the Rees yard.

Cartwright Station was not close to a navigable river, located in central Kentucky near present Lebanon, Ky. Actually it was a type of fort on the Wilderness Rd.

*RE: Mark Twain 'Chronology'*

Hi, Dan,
I too, like Keith, got confused regarding your posted quest on Sam Clemens [AKA Mark Twain] and steamboats. Some of your questions need to be put in chronological order concerning his life and experiences. Mark Twain was born Nov. 30, 1835, thus only 14 years old at the time gold was struck Sutter's Mill, California. Orion Clemens, Sam's brother, was appointed by Lincoln as Secretary of the new territory of Nevada with Mark signing on as his administrative secretary heading west on July 25, 1861 for the twenty-day journey west.

I'd suggest the book MARK TWAIN HIMSELF, Milton Meltzer, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, first printing 1960. This clear, concise volume traces Twain from birth to death with dates, anecdotes, his own words, photos, drawings, maps. This a good place to begin. Consult your local library along with other detailed sources on Internet. Good luck!

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Mark Twain and His Age

Thank you very much.

So how old was Mark Twain when he was in Virginia City? Then how old would he be as a riverboat captain? Would he know Pittsburgh lawyer Edwin M Stanton since his brother was Secretary of NV appointed by Abraham Lincoln? Benjamin P Thomas writes in his book STANTON, the life of Lincoln's Secretary of War, that Edwin M Stanton, a lawyer in Pittsburgh, married Ellen Hutchison a descendant of Meriwether Lewis. It's on page 68 third sentance down. This is why I am at Isaac Hammitt's grave site in Pittsburgh in the first place. I am looking for the family of Meriwether Lewis based on Benjamin P Thomas' book STANTON.

There seems to be some sort of connect between Mark Twain and Isaac Hammit, his brother-in-law Daniel Pollard and the wealthy shipping Hutchison family of Pittsburgh of which Ellen Hutchison belongs. She was married to Edwin M Stanton.

For sure Isaac Hammit is buried less then 20 ft from the Lewis and Clark cemetery lot in Pittsburgh and I know they are all boat builders in Elizabeth PA.

R. Dale Flick;28129 wrote: Hi, Dan,
I too, like Keith, got confused regarding your posted quest on Sam Clemens [AKA Mark Twain] and steamboats. Some of your questions need to be put in chronological order concerning his life and experiences. Mark Twain was born Nov. 30, 1835, thus only 14 years old at the time gold was struck Sutter's Mill, California. Orion Clemens, Sam's brother, was appointed by Lincoln as Secretary of the new territory of Nevada with Mark signing on as his administrative secretary heading west on July 25, 1861 for the twenty-day journey west.

I'd suggest the book MARK TWAIN HIMSELF, Milton Meltzer, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, first printing 1960. This clear, concise volume traces Twain from birth to death with dates, anecdotes, his own words, photos, drawings, maps. This a good place to begin. Consult your local library along with other detailed sources on Internet. Good luck!

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Daniel,

Check wikipedia for a short biography of Mark Twain.

Carmen

Langhorne PA

Thanks again.

You have given me a great lead. What's interesting about this is the graveyard is near a little town in Pittsburgh called Lincoln. They changed it to Glassport after the Civil War.

If in fact Mark Twain's brother knew Abraham Lincoln well enought to get that kind of appointment from him, I believe I can now make a flowchart. I have several pictures of these riverboat families and the first thing I noticed is that all the Captains sort of look like Mark Twain on way or the other as if all of them had a common ancester.

Then actually some of them came from Langhorne PA.

Now off to Langhorne.

Thank you so much!!!

Carmen;28132 wrote: Daniel,

Check wikipedia for a short biography of Mark Twain.

Carmen